


The World-Building behind my A/B/O fic "hearts on fire"

by keepthekettleon



Series: love write it in the sky [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Genetics, Mad Science, Multi, Other, Thetas, fourth gender, in ABO, me trying to be scietific
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-11-16 23:25:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11263194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepthekettleon/pseuds/keepthekettleon
Summary: So here you have everything on my Universe.Chapters:1. The Genetics2. Outtakes, miscalculations, and me throwing science out the window (aka “The problem with the X and Y chromosomes”)3. General Biology and Social Aspects (eventually not getting published)4. History Lesson





	1. The Genetics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, as many of you requested, here are my genetic tables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT! Even though I talk a bit between the tables, you should have a basic understanding of how genetics work to understand this chapter.
> 
> PS: I had a bit of a problem with formatting this, but I hope you can see everything. I made sure that I also put a link to every picture in there.
> 
> PPS: I'm from Austria and my first language is German. So even though I hate in when people do a disclaimer because of that, I learned all of that vocab in german and tried my best to find the proper one in english, but I can't guarantee for 100% accuracy. Plus, I did the second Theta/Omega table in german, that's the reason why there's "absolute H." written instead of "absolute frequency" since frequency is "Häufigkeit" in german.

# Before We Begin:

We all have to agree that A/B/O is messed up and by no means scientific. But, me being me, I had to force science onto this trope, like so many others before me. Just check out the entire “[Omegaverse Genetics and related Meta](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/OmegaverseGeneticsandRelatedMeta)”-Collection. But since I included a fourth gender, namely Thetas (who are not my invention, by the way. [r2metoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/r2metoo) did it before me in her Destiel fic “[By the Dark of the Moon](http://archiveofourown.org/works/830809)”, which actually gave me the idea to differentiate between true and fake Betas) I had to redo the entire science and couldn’t take one of those templates. So let the science begin…

# What I wanted the numbers to be:

  * Thetas ca. 50%
  * Alphas ca. 30%
  * Omegas ca. 20%
  * Betas are a rarity.



Please notice that this is NOT what came out after I did the genetics. Those numbers were only guidelines for me to work with as I tried to come up with a genetic pattern that would result in numbers somewhat similar to those above.

# The system that I used:

I decided to use chromosomes to determine the secondary gender, not alleles like some others.  Though it would have been interesting to work with, I found a system that perfectly worked in using chromosomes.

A and O are co-dominant and cancel each other out, resulting in a Theta, while b is recessive, which leads us to the following chart.

**Genotype**

| 

**Phenotype**  
  
---|---  
  
**AA**

| 

Alpha  
  
**Ab**

| 

Alpha  
  
**AO**

| 

Theta  
  
**Ob**

| 

Omega  
  
**OO**

| 

Omega  
  
**bb**

| 

Beta  
  
 So as you can see, Theta's are basically what most people who take a scientific approach to ABO would call a "fake Beta". They don't have the b-chromosome but, due to the mixture of the two codominant chromosomes A and O, result in a gender that is neither Alpha or Omega.

I had put up a few premises to determine who would be able to mate with whom. Betas are lacking the fertile A and O chromosome and are therefore infertile and had to be removed from the mating pool. From there, I put up two different options, going from one question: Are Thetas compatible with Omegas?  and calculated both options.

## Thetas can mate with Omegas:

So I made that chart. (I hope you paid attention in biology class, because I’m not explaining that. (If you can't see it, [the link is here](http://68.media.tumblr.com/8229289e49125006dc403b745a14873b/tumblr_os7yr8iaq81tzk6goo2_1280.png))

It kinda agreed with the numbers that I wanted, but Alphas and Omegas were equally frequent, so I decided to try out the second model that I had in mind.

## Thetas and Omegas are incompatible

So removing the Theta/Omega options, I got the following results. (Again, [this is the link](http://68.media.tumblr.com/54cc261decd217b6abd3034d5865c8d5/tumblr_os7yr8iaq81tzk6goo1_1280.png))

That immediately seemed more like the result that I wanted and I could have just left it at that, but then, curiosity kicked in. (As for the reason why they are incompatible, this is a mixture of social and biological reasons and will maybe be explored in another explanation chapter as soon as  I'm further along in the story.) So again, I picked up paper, pen and my laptop.

This was only the first generation, calculated under the assumption that each pairing was just as frequent as the others. Which wasn’t true if you looked at the numbers. That had me thinking. How frequent were those pairings in society, given the numbers I had just gotten?

Since Alphas were more frequent that Omegas, some of them had to mate with Thetas. Working under the assumption that all Omegas would mate with an Alpha, and the probability of Omegas mating with an AA-Alpha or an Ab-Alpha were roughly 50/50, I got the following numbers.

AA & AO -> 10,4 %

AA & Ob -> 14,5 %

AA & OO -> 4 %

Ab & AO -> 10,4 %

Ab & Ob -> 14,5 %

Ab & OO -> 4 %

AO & AO -> 41,7 %

Now, multiplying those percentages with the genetic outcomes of the pairings above, I got the following results for the second generation:

**2\. Generation**  
  
---  
  
**AA**

| 

18%  
  
**Ab**

| 

14%  
  
**AO**

| 

46%  
  
**bb**

| 

4%  
  
**Ob**

| 

8%  
  
**OO**

| 

10%  
  
 

Seeing that the number were still well within of what I could work with/wanted, I left it at that and well… no. It’s me, so I couldn’t leave it at that. I’m currently working on the third generation, but I needed a break from all the chromosomes.

# Results:

Alpha

| 

32%  
  
---|---  
  
Beta

| 

4%  
  
Theta

| 

46%  
  
Omega

| 

18%  
  
**Total**

| 

**100%**  
  
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a second chapter with some "outtakes" where I calculated some numbers that didn't make it into the story since I didn't like them. Hopefully you'll find my comments to that at least a bit amusing.
> 
> Please leave a comment down below if you took the time to read this chapter because I've never did something like that (meaning, meta stuff) before and I'd really like to know if there's something I can improve on. (Or I just wanna talk with some fellow biology nerds, I know you're out there, you voted in the poll!)
> 
> I'm looking forward to your input!


	2. Outtakes, miscalculations, and me throwing science out the window (aka “The problem with the X and Y chromosomes”)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you try to do more science than what's good for you.

So somewhere along those calculations, I realized that I hadn’t taken the X and Y chromosomes into consideration. I was on my way to the doctor and spent the time in the waiting room trying to calculate the percentages for male and female.

What I told myself was, that YY combinations (which are bound to happen at some point with mpreg) would result in a miscarriage, Alpha females were infertile and male Thetas were only impregnators and Theta females could only be impregnated by male Thetas or Alphas.

[[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/b7056a4eb724b0e513848aef87e10912/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo1_1280.jpg)

So I was happily sitting there, making my Punnett squares and working through all the possible pairings.

Everything was fine. I finished my squares and calculated the percentages per pairing for the first generation, since I hadn’t done the second generation at the time.

[[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/55038906d601c3ef27e247d8c35ee32b/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo2_1280.jpg) [[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/5d92fbe4b4e290cbcb6c2964fdd1efdc/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo3_1280.jpg) [[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/0e2bef8676aa112eb4ca55a03daff734/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo4_1280.jpg) [[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/371a6ef03fdd178cecfd758fcbcf741e/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo5_1280.jpg)

Or so I thought. But when I brought all the percentages together, I realized that NOTHING was fine. Because those were the percentages I got, and nothing added up the way I wanted it to.

[[Picture]](http://68.media.tumblr.com/eac2aa8b8ed239a6508dc36e28ea4547/tumblr_os7yowislv1tzk6goo6_1280.jpg)

So as a serious scientist, what did I do? I went Niels Bohr on my calculations and simply threw them out the window, said “Fuck it, this is A/B/O and I can do what I want.” and just left it at that. Really. I did just leave it at that. No but. No “This is me and of course I couldn’t leave it at that.”. I gave that one up.

Well, not completely. Maybe someday I will find a solution, but for now, I just accepted that I’m not finding a satisfying solution to that problem and I will just be doing what I want.

### The 3rd Generation

So, this kinda also classifies as miscalculation, but not entirely.

After I finished the 2nd Generation (as shown in the 1st Chapter) I took a break, but I eventually came back to those numbers. One thing that has to be added is, that in order to get the relationship percentages, I told myself that EVERYONE would find a mate and that every Alpha would get a mate that was either Omega or Theta. Then, the remaining Thetas would mate amongst each other, completly disregarding the fact that there are now way more unmated male Thetas than female. I did the same thing already in the 2nd generation, I just didn't mention it.

I got the following percentages for the relationships:

AA & AO -> 7,9%  
AA & Ob -> 4,5%  
AA & OO -> 5,6%  
Ab & AO -> 6,1%  
Ab & Ob -> 3,5%  
Ab & OO -> 4,4%  
AO & AO -> 16,0%

Calculating those percentages was a bit more difficult than last time, but I eventually made it.

Society after the 3rd Generation, under the assumption that every pairing got the same number of children, would consist of:

Alpha: 29%  
Beta: 2% (uups, I guess they're gonna be extinct by the 5th generation or something, let's forget that number okay?)  
Theta: 51%  
Omega: 18% (pretty stagnant, right)


	3. General Biology and Social Aspects

So now that I've explained the genetics (mostly) let's talk about the other stuff.

For example, I still haven't really delved into the biology of ABOT in my fic (apart from the genetics). So let's start with that.

_!! This now includes the changes made to consider the first generation of XY calculations made by ChocoSenpai !!!_

_Changes due to ChocoSenpai's calculations are marked like this. I left my original thoughts in the document so you can see what changed._

### Biology lesson á la MrsLiveYourLife

#### Overall Biology:

  * Everyone presents on their 18th birthday
  * Alphas and Omegas develop a superior sense of smell, but Thetas and Betas don't.



#### Alphas:

  * Alpha males are fertile and can impregnate both Thetas and Omegas.
  * Alpha females can't impregnate Omegas and _**don't**_ have a penis! (some fics are crazy like that, but not me)
  * _Alpha Females can be impregnated by Theta's and Omega's (why this is still uncommon will be covered in the Social Aspects)_
  * Alphas make up ca. 30% of society and are mostly comprised of male Alphas.



#### Betas: (this is where I really get away from the trope)

  * Betas are infertile
  * Betas release special pheromones that calm both Alphas and Omegas
  * They are uncommon as fuck ( _not so much any more 6% to be precise,but I've elected to ignore that, more to that in the social Aspects_ ) and really valuable to every pack because of the aforementioned ability



#### Omegas:

  * Heats occur every 3 to 4 months and last between 36 and 72 hours
  * Omegas with an Alpha have shorter and more frequent heats
  * The fertiliy of an Omega spikes during a heat
  * "Untreated" heats of single Omegas are a painful experience and will result in a high fever, but they will not kill the Omega
  * Emotional and/or physical trauma (rape for example) can render Omegas temporarily or permanetely infertile (we're coming back to that in the History lesson)
  * Male Omegas have a uterus (don't ask me how, it's one of the unsolved mysteries in ABO)
  * Male Omegas are more likely to need a C-section, die in labour (more about that in the history lesson) or have a miscarriage (Because of the YY chromosome constellation)
  * Male Omegas are almost exclusively gay
  * Male Omegas are really uncommon  _(I know that isn't the case in ChocoSenpai's calculations. But I need them to be even rarer than those calculations make them so that they're roughly 2% instead of the 7% the calculations suggest.)_
  * Omegas make up roughly 20 % of the population



#### Thetas: (now we're getting to the interesting part)

  * Thetas are fertile due to the A and O chromosomes.
  * They do not have the superior sense of smell that Alphas and Omegas develop when they present.
  * Thetas exude pheromones, but they don't have an impact or anything, since A and O chromosomes cancel each other out.
  * They are the biggest part of society with ca. 40 %



### Social Aspects and Culture

So, moving on, how does this affect the culture and society of my ABOT!verse? This part focusses mainly on Betas, Thetas and female Alphas, since the dynamics between Omegas and male Alphas will be discussed heavily in the History lesson. Now lets answer a few questions:

#### Why don't Thetas and Omegas mate?

Looking at the biology in this chapter and at the genetics in the first chapter, this question inevitably arises. Because if Thetas are fertile, why don't they mate with Omegas? This is a tricky question, since it is biologically possible for a male Theta to impregnate any Omega. But there are reasons why those pairings weren't included into my calculations (other than that it would have messed up my percentages).

First of all, Omegas need Alpha pheromones to help them through a heat. It isn't just the sex that does the trick and since Theta pheromones are practically useless, it would never be a fulfilling relationship for the Omega. Now, I can hear you screaming _" **But if it's true love?"**_ and I have to give it to you. It isn't impossible, just really unhealthy for the Omega.

The second reason is that there are 14% more Alphas in this universe than Omegas, making that almost two Alphas per Omega. Do you really think the Alphas would leave any Omega uncourted? There are unspoken rules that come out of those numbers and one is that _Omegas are to be left for the Alphas!_ The second rule is that male Omegas are to be left for gay Alphas, but as you may have read in the description of the main story, Magnus will definitely break that rule.

This brings us to the third and last reason. It is socially frowned upon.

_ChocoSenpai didn't include T/O pairings either. Therefore no changes have been made_

#### What is the social status of female Alphas as infertile members of society?

Female Alphas are pretty useless, right? They can't get pregnant, can't impregnate anyone and don't have the special Beta pheromones. You probably expect me to tell you otherwise, but female Alphas _are_ useless. They don't want to admit it, but they know they are. Sometimes they manage to lead a pack, like Camille Belcourt for example, but usually they stay with the pack of their father for the rest of their lives. Here and there, some find a hetero male Omega, but those are not easy to find and a relationship will always be really weird, since the Omega would have to penetrate the Alpha, and that's just messed up and not what's usually fulfilling for the Omega.

_This had to be changed because of ChocoSenpai's calculations. So here is the updated version._

_Female Alphas can get pregnant now. But it's still pretty uncommon for them to mate with anyone because there are more Male Alphas than overall Omegas and there are only a handful heterosexual male Omegas anyways. fA/mO couples don't have the pheromone problem like T/O couples, but the lack of penetration makes this relationship still an unfulfilling one (hetero male Omegas are gonna pursue such a relationship anyways because their attracted to femAlphas)._

#### What is the role of a Theta?

Thetas make up almost 50 % of the society. Like Betas in many other ABO fics, they take up the place of the workforce.

#### How do the Betas fit into that society?

Betas are infertile, so aren't they supposed to be just as useless as female Alphas? No. Due to their infertility, they are really rare, but they have special calming pheromones that make them valuable. (As to why they still exist, see in the History lesson) Most packs would love to have a Beta, but since the only chromosomal pairing that has a chance of having Beta children is the Ab + Ob pairing, the distribution of Betas is fairly irregular. Most Betas will not stay with their pack, but instead leave their pack to serve another pack that doesn't have a Beta. Betas are the nomads of this universe, always wandering to where they are needed most.

_ Since the numbers of Beta's were slightly raised due to ChocoSenpai's calculations, (from almost none to 6%) it would be unrealistic to say that there was any pack that doesn't have a Beta. But I decided to go against those numbers because that's a major plot point for me, even though it probably won't impact the story much_

#### The Importance of the Presenting Ceremony:

The Presenting Ceremony takes place on the 18th birthday and resembles the official transition from child to adulthood. Alphas will start courting Omegas, Omegas will start to be courted, Thetas will officially take their place in the pack and if the Beta isn't the first Beta in the pack, they will start looking for a pack that needs them. The Origins of the Presenting Ceremony will be explained in the History Lesson.

#### What the fuck is Courting?

Courting is the time in where Alphas try to woo the freshly presented Omega in hope of being chosen as a Mate. More about that in the History Lesson.

### Closing Remarks to ChocoSenpai's calculations

What they did is amazing, hands down. When I saw what they did, I freaked out because I never, ever would have thought that someone would make that effort for someone elses story.

It was amazing to see and read their calculations and to work with those numbers. But despite all that, the numbers still don't match up quite the way I need them. Male Omegas are rarer than female Omegas, yes, but they are still too common. Beta's are kinda rare, but they are still too common. I loved what they did and I think for anyone really interested in genetics, it is an amazing template to work with, but in order to make my universe work, I still need to tweak some of their numbers. I also get why they had to include fA/mO relationships (I calculated the numbers when I excluded them and it messed up the numbers), and even though I genetically changed it up and made them compatible, I still don't think those relationships are socially accepted and really possible.

Since they only calculated the first generation and I know how difficult it was to make the relationship percentages for the 7 different relationship options in my version, I haven't (and most likely never will) attempted to calculate a 2nd Generation for the 17 options in their calculations.

I want to officially thank them for attempting the impossible. Thank you so much. Sadly I still can't use those numbers one-on-one, but it has provided me with the amazing possibility to make things a bit more realistic, if only a bit.

So to clear everything up, those are the numbers that I had in my head for the distribution of the primary genders in relation to the secondary genders: (please note that those percentages are also only guidelines for myself and I never planned on publishing them and they will probably be contradicted at some point in the story. [fA are probably even rarer while mB may be a bit more frequent])

 

| 

Male

| 

Female

| 

**Total**  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
Alpha

| 

28%

| 

4%

| 

**32%**  
  
Beta

| 

~0%

| 

4%

| 

**4%**  
  
Theta

| 

19%

| 

27%

| 

**46%**  
  
Omega

| 

1%

| 

17%

| 

**18%**  
  
**Total**

| 

**48%**

| 

**52%**

| 

**100%**  
  
 ChocoSenpai's numbers (of course) don't exactly match up with that. I would love to be able to just take their calculations, but they are just too different in some aspects. I let myself be inspired by the numbers and I think the work they did is absolutely amazing. It just doesn't work completely for what I want in this universe and for what I need to keep the storyline the way I planned it (and I really love my storyline, apparently I love it more than scientific accuracy. Honestly never thought that would happen) especially the numbers of male Omegas has to be kept at this freakishly low level of 1%. When I said they are rare, I meant it.

ChocoSenpai, thank you so much for doing that. Of course the calculations didn't fit perfectly because you didn't have really much to go on (especially this chapter would have helped, I believe). But it made me think and it did cause a few minor changes. I hope you understand why I couldn't use your numbers completely.

MrsLiveYourLife, over and out.


	4. History Lesson

### The long awaited and much promoted HISTORY LESSON! _Fucking Finally!_

So here it is. Why is my universe different? Why aren't Betas extinct already? Where did the sudden need for consent come from? and most importantly How did the Alphas almost cause the extinction of the entire human race? This and more will be answered in the following History Lesson.

#### Let's start at the earliest possible moment to answer why Betas aren't extinct

A long, long time ago, shortly after the creation of the universe, Beta's were fertile. They mated with Alphas, Omegas, Thetas as well as among each other. But a genetic disease made them infertile. This is also the reason why Ab-Alphas exist. Back then the b-chromosome found its way into the fertile part of society and slowly, the numbers of Betas declined until they settled down at roughly 4%. This happened such a long time ago that no one actually remembers the time when Betas were fertile.

#### Now let's jump to the Dark Ages and to the brink of humanity's extinction (and answer every previously teased question)

All throughout history, Omegas had been somewhat equal to the other genders. But during the Dark ages, when Alphas slowly and surely turned into self-absorbed assholes and sexual intercourse was tabooed, those dynamics changed. Having children was suddenly all that mattered and it turned Omegas into living breeding facilities, to be used as the Alpha wished. Due to the public nature of heats, they were commonly viewed as whores who would throw themselves at any Alpha with a dick in his pants. This led to Alphas feeling entitled of the Omegas bodies and an almost comical raping spree. But human development didn't stop. The Omegas' bodies started defending themselves. Soon it was found that raped and abused Omegas were unable of bearing children, but by then, it was already almost too late. 

Strict laws were inforced to protect the Omegas that were left. But it seemed like it was already too late. For years, humanity kept on dying, while nearly no new children were born. The ones that were born were mainly secret Theta children that were "gifted" (meaning left at the doorstep) to the pack, since Thetas weren't allowed to mate. With an average lifespan of 35 years, it almost pushed humanity into extinction. Then, slowly, the last children started turning 18 and some presented as Omegas. Every Omega was proudly presented to friends and family, and the Presenting Ceremony was born. And then the Alphas would come running. 

Out of fear that the previous desaster might repeat itself, any action taken without the explicit request of the Omega's consent was declared a capital crime. Alphas pulled out all the stops in hope of winning the favor of an Omega. This would from now on be referred to as Courting. Some Omegas indulged in the affections, drawing out the courting process as long as possible to receive the utmost number of gifts. This practice was frowned upon, but not uncommon. The Alphas needed a mate, needed children, so they were in no position to complainm especially since the Omegas were the minority that had been wronged for such a long time.

With the slow sexual liberation after the end of the Dark Ages, Thetas were also allowed to find a partner. Previously only seen as the workforce, they had been denied the right of a partner, as they were presumedly infertile. Soon, they proved everybody wrong and the crisis was soon overcome, with almost fifty percent of the population suddenly bearing children with a high probability of presenting as Omegas.

Over the decades, the Presenting Ceremony developed into an artifact of that time and a tradition. The colored sashes still had the same colors as back then, red for Alpha, blue for Beta, brown for Theta and green for Omega. The laws against crimes against Omegas were never revoked but the reports of them actually getting broken were scarce.

The society wasn't perfect but it worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm still looking for a Beta who doesn't mind being spoilered for the entire story. Hit me up on tumblr @jael-or-not

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Solving the problem with the X and Y chromosomes for ABO in MrsLiveYourLife 's Husband!verse ?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470449) by [ChocoSenpai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocoSenpai/pseuds/ChocoSenpai)




End file.
